Al Gore

Albert Gore, Jr. was born and raised in Washington, D.C., where his father was a well-known and widely respected representative and later senator from Tennessee. Gore attended St. Alban's Episcopal School for Boys, where he excelled both academically and athletically. He later went to Harvard, earning a bachelor's degree in government. After graduation he enlisted in the army, serving as a reporter in Vietnam in a war he was opposed to. After completing his tour of duty, in 1974 Gore entered the law school at Vanderbilt University. Following in his father's footsteps, Gore ran for Congress, was elected, and served five terms before running for and winning a Senate seat in 1984. He served in the Senate until 1992, when then-governor and Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton selected him as his vice presidential running-mate. After winning the 1992 election Vice President Gore became the Clinton administration's chief environmental advisor. He was also largely responsible for President Clinton's selection of Carol Browner as head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Bruce Babbit as Secretary of the Interior.

Gore and Texas Governor George W. Bush, his opponent for the presidency, faced off in one of the closest presidential contest in American history. Each man was poised to take the White House; it all hinged on Florida's 25 electoral votes. Because of outcries about the confusing ballots, Palm Beach officials were expected to do a hand count; however, conflicting rulings over whether to do the hand count forced the issue into court. After Florida officials certified Bush's 537-vote lead over Gore, the vice president contested those results in court. By winning Florida's electoral votes, Bush would have one more than the 270 needed to win the presidency in the Electoral College. Gore held a total of 255 electoral votes. On December 13, 2000, Gore conceded the presidential election to Bush after the United States Supreme Court ruled that recounting Florida votes would be unconstitutional.

When he ran for president in 2000, the environment was not a strong feature in his campaign, though this was an area where he had sharp differences with his opponent, George W. Bush. In the last months of the campaign, Gore found himself defending his record on the environment against Green Party candidate Ralph Nader. Though Gore had the backing of the Sierra Club and other major environmental groups, Nader accused Gore of "eight years of principles betrayed and promises broken." In the end Gore lost the election to Bush, who quickly reversed Clinton administration environmental policies such as new standards on drinking water safety, and refused to endorse the Kyoto climate change treaty.

Gore's movie, An Inconvenient Truth, won Academy Awards for best documentary and best song. Gore shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for their efforts to raise awareness about global warming.